Just before Alex Rodriguez broke Lou Gehrig’s grand slam record, the beleaguered ball player had a brush with one-time home run king Hank Aaron.

A spy said Rodriguez was dining at Nobu when he spotted Aaron at a nearby table. A-Rod approached and said to true hero Hammerin’ Hank, “Mr. Aaron, I just wanted to introduce myself. I think about you every day when I play. You’re an inspiration to me.”

(In case Aaron didn’t know who he was, he added, “My name is Alex Rodriguez.”)

Aaron said in August of A-Rod, “I just want [him] to get his life straightened out. Forget about baseball, get back on the path on being the young man I saw maybe 15 or 16 years ago.”